Azerbaijani national sentenced to 11 years in prison for providing portable internet systems to Russian army

RIGA - The Riga City Court on Monday handed down a prison term of 11 years to an Azerbaijani national for providing portable internet systems to the Russian military for use in the war against Ukraine.

The court found the foreign national guilty of actions carried out in an organized group with the aim of helping a foreign country to undermine the territorial integrity and political independence of another democratic country, as well as of violating the sanctions imposed by the European Union (EU) in a group of persons by prior agreement, causing significant damage, LETA was told at the prosecutor's office.

The court ruled to impose a prison sentence of 11 years, probation supervision for three years, and expulsion from Latvia, with a ban on entry to Latvia for five years.

Criminal cases against three other defendants in the case - two Latvian citizens and one non-citizen of Latvia - have been split into separate proceedings during the trial.

As reported, in June 2025, the prosecutor's office referred to the Riga City Court a criminal case in which an Azerbaijani national, two Latvian nationals, and a non-citizen had been charged with providing portable internet systems to the Russian military for use in the war against Ukraine.

The organized group ordered several dozen Starlink Mini Kits, manufactured by US company SpaceX, which enable access to the internet from almost any location, as well as other military goods, including weapon parts, cartridge cases, bullets, ballistic weather gauges, worth around EUR 200,000 in total.

The aforementioned goods were delivered to Russia and sold to persons linked to the Russian army, knowing that the goods would be used in Russia's military offensive in Ukraine, as well as knowing that some of them had been banned by the European Union from being handed over to any individual or legal person, unit, or structure in Russia.

The sale of the goods to persons linked to the Russian armed forces significantly undermines Ukrainian and international security interests by providing Russia with substantial support in its military offensive against Ukraine.

The prosecution was initiated by the State Security Service, which started the investigation into the case on October 9, 2024.